Anxiety

How I Treat Anxiety

Most people don’t think about anxiety as a pattern. They experience it as something they want to get rid of. It feels physical, uncomfortable, and intrusive. Like something is off and needs to be fixed. A lot of people come in hoping there’s a way to make it go away quickly, almost like taking something for an infection.

The reality is that anxiety is more complex than that. Once it gets into your system, it doesn’t just stay in your body. It affects how you think, how you respond, and how your body stays activated. Over time, it starts to impact your focus, your sleep, your relationships, and your overall sense of stability.

I take a very pragmatic approach to treating anxiety because we need to get to what is actually driving it. Using cognitive behavioral therapy, we begin to look at how your thoughts, emotions, and physical responses are all connected and keeping the anxiety going. When you can see the pattern clearly, it starts to feel more predictable and less overwhelming.

It is also important to spend time understanding how your anxiety developed in the first place. In most cases, it does not show up randomly. There are usually certain areas of life that are off or under strain, and that is where anxiety tends to take hold.

Once we understand the pattern, the work shifts to changing it. This means developing different responses to triggers, changing how you relate to your thoughts, and helping your body learn how to settle instead of staying activated.

I don’t have to tell you how disruptive anxiety can be in your life, but I do want to encourage you to start therapy.